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Tuesday, March 22, 2016

My day starts with plugging in my iron. This is Bess, my most favorite iron. Dry, no steam. Continental iron that I buy two at a time on Amazon. It's a solid iron and has a good grip. Perfect for fusing fabrics with Mistyfuse.

Mistyfuse, my go to fusible web. It doesn't change the hand on the cloth. You can sew through it easily on your machine and by hand. It is light and easy to use. This is the 20x100 bolt. It is the perfect size for fusing a fat quarter. Here is the website

My favorite size, shown here and not very well on an Ikea butcher paper dispenser. It is the 12x100 yard bolt. I pull it out onto the fabric and place a Fat Goddess Sheet (also sold by Mistyfuse) on the top and press with Bess on the cotton setting.

Parchment paper also made by Mistyfuse is perfect for taking to classes or working on small projects in my studio. You can use a Goddess Sheet or parchment paper over the Mistyfuse for a really good melt into the fabric

Then there is this one 34x100 for the really big jobs, like when I am prepping fabric for Quilt Market. I have to completely clean off my design table to use this baby, but it is worth it to be able to fuse a huge piece of fabric with it. On my table is a Holy Cow Goddess Sheet, the largest they make at Mistyfuse

People are always asking me about the wool blended felt that I use in my quilts, since I don't use batting. It is made by National Nonwovens. You can buy it at Joann's in the felt section. It is on a smaller bolt than the polyester (long bolts). You want to use the wool blended felt, because you can fuse your fabrics to it easily. It is dense and pretty solid. The polyester felt is see-through, and you cannot iron it without fumes. It literally burns up with heat. You could also set up an account with National Nonwovens and buy it by the bolt.

Here's the end bolt so you can see what the number is to look for . I also like TOY002

My Sizzix Fabi machine, which is the same as a Big Shot for cutting shapes that I don't physically want to cut with a pair of scissors. It saves me alot of time and wear and tear on my hands.

This is the Big Shot Pro by Sizzix that cuts the bigz dies. That's the spiral die on top.

I am starting a new project. I've cut these squares 4-1/2 square with my rotary cutter on this wonderful pink cutting mat by Havel's Sewing. Each fabric is fused with Mistyfuse. They are in stacks of 8, fused side down. You can put up to 8 layers of fabric on a die through the Sizzix machine. So I am getting 24 hexagons in one sweep.

Here are the stacks of hexagons lined up on my table

I am a Bernina girl. My first Bernina 153QE that I got in 2001 has been the best machine. It is set up in my studio all of the time. A little workhorse. It is on a Sew Ezi portable table and it is the greatest.

My Bernina 750QE that I got on loan in 2014 as a Bernina Ambassador. It sews like a dream and has a nice wide harp. I bought this beauty last year. It is on a Sew Ezi Grande table, which I would not recommend, because it isn't as sturdy as the portable table. I have counter weights under the table to keep it more sturdy. It really needs 4 legs like the portable table.

My little sewing area in my studio, which still needs some work.

Another favorite thing is this bamboo drying rack. I organize my fused fabrics on this for really big projects, then I don't have these huge out of control piles on my table where I am trying to work.

This is what is on my design wall right now and is ready to get trimmed and put together. Houses are separate from the Dresden Plate Project.

I liked reading about your tools! I bought one of those irons (but it does not seem to heat up very fast). I liked the idea of the 12" so I took advantage of the March 13 sale-Yeah. I have begun using the blended felt from National Nonwovens (from Jo Ann's) Good to know I can buy by the bolt directly. Thanks for this post - I enjoyed it!